Are you a member of the 'sleep elite'?

THERE is a small number of Australians who can function on a tiny amount of sleep.

Margaret Thatcher accomplished many things as one of the UK’s longest-serving - and most divisive - prime ministers.

But one of her universally appreciated qualities was her ability to get by in the top job on only four hours sleep each day, which researchers describe as a rare attribute.

Mrs Thatcher was one of what some people call the ‘sleep elite’: hardworking, successful people who have trained themselves to function at full throttle on very little sleep everyday.

Several Australian movers and shakers have joined Mrs Thatcher, her predecessor Winston Churchill, real estate mogul Donald Trump and former CIA director David Petraeus, in completing demanding jobs on an allowance of four hours sleep a day.

Early riser Alan Jones, the often inflammatory 2GB breakfast host, former prime minister Kevin Rudd and the controversial young telco entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan are among the tiny percentage of the population who regularly spend less than a sixth of their day asleep.

But is it normal? Or is it just the unhealthy habit of workaholics?

Scroll down to find tips for how to manage your sleep

There are a small number of Australians, who through a combination of lifestyle and biological factors, can function (if not at their peak) on an extremely small amount of sleep.

“There’s a range of what we call habitual sleep durations in the population,” says Professor Shantha Rajaratnam, the president of the Australasian Sleep Association. While some people may cope a little better when they’re sleep deprived, it’s often more driven by lifestyle and environmental factors, Prof Rajaratnam says.

Mr Rudd often ran on just three hours sleep while in the top job, particularly at the height of the global financial crisis.

“Kevin starts at around six in the morning, he might get to bed around one or two, or maybe three. He doesn’t need a lot of sleep,” Mr Rudd’s wife, Therese Rein, told newspapers, adding he had been like that since university. “It’s just different.”

How many hours do you do? Leave a comment below.

Others, like tech entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan, are afflicted by the same kind of work ethic. He works 20 hours a day, and fires off emails to staff at all hours. “I don’t call it work, I call it life,” he says.

But that kind of lifestyle isn’t recommended, says Prof Rajaratnam.

“We have to educate society to understand that compromising sleep is likely to have a more adverse societal impact than people are realising,” including the effects it has on your health, productivity and a heightened risk of accidents.

There is also a chance of increased irritability, although it’s impossible to say whether Jones’ garrulous radio personality or Mr Rudd’s much watched angry outburst on camera were evidence of lack of sleep.

If you must run on little sleep, there are ways you can manage it, say the experts, including short fast bursts of sleep, or power naps.

Noosa GP and South African expat Dr Francois Pretorious has survived on three to four hours sleep since his days at medical school and while working 14-hour-plus days while an on-call practitioner.

The 43-year-old has kicked his life into a more manageable gear since moving from South Australia to Noosa, but he regularly wakes up at 2am or 3am and cannot get back to sleep, so he uses brief power-naps to keep himself going.

Mr Rudd, too, has taken a healthier tack since he left the top job. A spokesman for the backbencher said these days he fits in a lengthier slumber.

“He sleeps as soundly as a baby,” his spokesman told news.com.au. “Correction: given recent grandparent responsibilities and experience, he sleeps sounder than a baby.”

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